The present invention relates to a wrist orthosis having a supporting shell open in the radial direction to receive the distal forearm area and a volar hand support for coming into contact with the palmar surface of the hand and having a closing device for force-locking connection of the wrist orthosis to the wrist area.
Wrist orthoses of the type defined above are used for stabilizing the wrist as is required after fractures of the radius near the wrist, for example. Immobilizing the wrist area, necessitating involvement of the adjacent areas, i.e., the distal forearm area and the metacarpal area, has proven to be problematical especially with regard to the metacarpal area because in addition to actually immobilizing the metacarpal area, one of the goals is to preserve mobility of the finger joints. With regard to this complex requirement, the design of the orthosis in this transitional area has proven to be especially difficult because achieving mobility of the finger joints must not be associated with inadequate immobilization of the metacarpal area on the distal edge of the orthosis.
The object of the present invention is therefore to propose a wrist orthosis which permits a comfortable immobilization of the metacarpal area with respect to the wrist while nevertheless allowing mobility of the finger joints, especially in the transitional area between the wrist and the metacarpal area.
This object is achieved by a wrist orthosis having the features of Claim 1.